Real-Time Media Delivery with Automatic Catch-Up

1. A method for presenting live media content in substantially real-time, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at a rendering device, media content from a live feed over a content delivery network, wherein the media content includes video content delivered in blocks of video data and the media content is rendered on the rendering device at least in part by an ADOBE FLASH PLAYER video player operating on the rendering device; buffering the media content as it is received, thereby generating a quantity of buffered media content; rendering the buffered media content on the rendering device in the order of its receipt from the live feed; and skipping over a portion of the buffered media content when a quantity of the buffered media content exceeds a threshold quantity by: monitoring the number of video blocks that are stored in the buffer; detecting when the number of video blocks in the buffer substantially equals the threshold quantity; and jumping ahead to the most recent video blocks before continuing the step of rendering the media content from the most recent video block by issuing a seek command to the content delivery network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of detecting when the number of video blocks in the buffer substantially equals the threshold quantity further comprises detecting when the buffer includes approximately 0.6 or more seconds of video blocks.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of issuing the seek command includes issuing a seek command with parameters that will cause the buffer to contain approximately 0.2 seconds or less of video blocks.